Category Archives: Comics

August 6, 2024

NECA Mirage TMNT – The First Turtles SDCC 2024 40th Anniversary Edition

By Joe
Today belongs to the originals.

As the story goes, one night Kevin Eastman was drawing with his friend and partner-in-comics Peter Laird when the idea to doodle a ninja, anthropomorphized, turtle entered his brain. Laird was so amused by this drawing that he too drew his own take on it. What was done just to amuse each other eventually turned into something that would change both of their lives as well as the lives of many others.

Kevin Eastman was commissioned to do the packaging and it’s appropriately “special.”

In 1984, the first issue of Mirage Studios’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hit shelves and became an indie darling. That comic would go on to inspire a toyline, which beget a cartoon series, and a phenom was born. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, once thought of as a fad, are still relevant today now more than 40 years from their inauspicious beginnings. To celebrate the milestone, NECA partnered with co-creator Kevin Eastman to create an action figure two-pack of those inaugural turtles. Sculpted by Paul Harding with paint by Geoff Trapp and Mike Puzzo, the set was sold as a two-pack at San Diego Comic Con as well as a presale on NECA’s own website. The First Turtles are just the latest in what are sure to be more celebratory figures to come. It’s on the heels of Playmates’ own Original Sketch Turtles which can currently be found at Target and on Amazon. Those turtles were the more refined, second pass, versions of the characters which bare a strong resemblance to what would be featured in that first comic, where as these originals are quite crude by comparison.

The original Eastman pose, as best as I can recreate it here.

The set sold by NECA comes in a rather large box adorned with new artwork by Eastman. It also features a lenticular slipcover depicting the drawings changing from black and white to color. The rear of the slipcover is almost bare white as the idea here was for convention goers to be able to have Eastman sign or even doodle on the box for them. I suppose that is still possible for other convention appearances to come. The interior box is a fairly typical NECA window box that displays both figures and their accessories quite well. The only thing missing is the actual original drawings which I’m surprised by, but maybe there were legal reasons. This really is a pretty nice display item, but I’m no in-box collector so let’s rip into this one.

And the original Laird pose.

First of all, the figures here are presented fully painted in color that’s basically a match for what NECA did with the Jim Lawson turtles released in 2023. The original drawings were never colored by Eastman and Laird, but since Eastman worked closely with NECA on this release it can be assumed that this is how he and Peter likely would color them today. We also don’t really know how tall they envisioned these guys to be or if any consideration was really given. Eastman probably had input there, but I don’t know if Laird had any involvement (he’s essentially retired after having sold the property to Viacom over a decade ago). Based on interviews Trevor Zammit of NECA has given, it sounds like NECA had some freedom to figure out how to present these two. Eastman’s turtle, which was really more tortoise-like in some respects, was made bigger and chunkier while the more lithe version Laird came up with is shorter and thinner.

These pair pretty well with the Playmates Original Sketch Turtles, which were like the second version of the property.

We might as well discuss the Eastman turtle first since it was the one said to be created first. The figure stands roughly 5.75″ to the top of its head. He may not be the tallest figure in the line, but he’s definitely a big boy. This turtle is quite chunky and there’s a nice heft to the figure. The shell is quite large and another area where NECA had to exercise some creative freedom since the drawing depicted the character from the front. Now, these turtles are not intended to be any, one, turtle from what followed. This isn’t Michelangelo or Raphael, it’s just a ninja turtle. Still, he has some recognizable traits from the turtles that followed. He’s sporting the red bandana along with brown elbow and knee pads and wrist wraps. There is no belt, but there is a tail. The original turtle also did not hold any weapons, but did have nunchaku affixed to both forearms which this figure does as well. The weapons are fused together, but do have real chain links affixed to them. They tab into a slot on the inner wrist band and are quite easy to work with.

A little too Raph.

What really stands out about the first turtle is the portrait and proportions. The head is more egg-shaped with barely any sort of beak. The eyes also feature pupils and areas of green around the eyes are visible through the eyeholes on the bandana. The hands and feet are large and more closely match that of an actual turtle. The hands look more like flippers for swimming through the water while the feet are quite tortoise-like. He has five digits on each limb as opposed to the three and two that would follow. The paint job is truly exquisite as there is tons of black hatch lines all over. The articulation cuts are not very prominent making this figure look almost like a statue. While subjectively many may find this turtle to be crude and even a bit ugly, objectively the figure is nothing short of a work of art when compared with the original sketch.

A lot of Michelangelo can be found in these original designs.

The same is true of the Laird turtle. This one clocks in at around 5.375″ and is far less substantial in mass when compared to the Eastman turtle. Laird’s turtle is similar to Eastman’s in style, but different. There’s a mask in place, but on this turtle it extends over a pronounced beak essentially wrapping around where the nose would be. It does feature the nunchaku on the forearms, but there are no chain links present this time and the straps holding them on are the only other garments on the turtle. There are no pads or belts, and the hands and feet feature four digits instead of five. He still is more turtle-like than the finished design, but the leaner proportions make him a bit more convincing as a ninja, even if still comically implausible. The paint job here is just as good as it is on the Eastman turtle, and despite the smaller size, this figure still has substantial weight to it.

The Lawson turtles were like the advancement of the original Mirage style.

Where the two figures also differ concerns the articulation. The more slender Laird turtle was likely easier to work with and articulates slightly better than the Eastman variety, though neither turtle is intended to be placed in poses many would consider “dynamic.” Both feature neck and head articulation with basic arm articulation. There are no double joints on either figure and the range at the hinge joints is probably going to be less than 90 degrees for most. The bandana knot and tail swivel while the hips are ball sockets with thigh swivels engineered into them. Neither turtle is going to be able to hit a split or kick forward all that far. The Laird turtle gets to have hinges at the knees and ankles with an ankle rocker. The Eastman turtle, who has big stumps for legs, just has one set of hinges below the kneepads. There is basically no ankle to be found on this guy so that’s it.

And, of course, it was the ’87 version of the property that launched a phenomenon.

Safe to say, if it’s articulation that you prioritize in your action figures then these are not for you. I think for most, they’ll pose them like the original drawing and call it a day. And that’s definitely a viable display option, but it would mean ignoring all of the goodies in the box. NECA decided to load this pair up with all of the weapons you would expect and more. That means we get a set of katana, nunchaku, sai, and a bo staff. There’s also a nunchaku with a whirling effect that even spins and looks really nice. There’s a tonfa as well if you prefer more of a Last Ronin vibe. All of the weapons are fully painted and look great. There’s a slight crudeness baked into some of them as well such as a chip in the blades of the katana and the wraps of the bo being off-center. They also appear to be based off of the original sketch of the four that followed which, if so, is a logical choice.

The tonfa has to nod to this guy, right?

In order to properly wield such weapons each turtle comes with an alternate set of gripping hands. The standard hands are an open style and the gripping are just that. They feature horizontal hinges, unfortunately, but at least they work with the clip-on nunchaku just fine. Both turtle can adequately wield any of the included, though aside from those clip-on ‘chuks there’s no weapon storage to be found. NECA also decided to give each figure one optional portrait. The default ones from the drawings are what I would deem stoic, while the alternate ones are angrier and feature exposed teeth, something we would be most accustomed to seeing out of the TMNT. It’s an appropriate alternate, for sure.

A fun set that feels like a real piece of TMNT history. Track it down if that’s something that appeals to you.

NECA’s send-up to the origin of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a worthy inclusion in the year-long 40th anniversary celebration. It’s cool to see both of the co-creator’s original vision celebrated here in action figure form. While they don’t exactly put the “action” in action figure, they make for a great display piece and it’s something that I think diehard TMNT collectors will want to add. Since this was a San Diego Comic Con exclusive, it’s now unfortunately sold out and only available on the after market. NECA sometimes sells remaining stock online and at future conventions, but the likely easiest path to owning this set for those that missed out is to keep an eye on retail. It’s expected that some stores are going to be home to an another version of this set where the figures will be painted in black and white, but with red bandanas and weapon handles. It looks like it’s going to contain everything from this set as well, though the slipcover will probably be dropped. The SDCC version was priced at $70 so expect something similar for the retail version. Listings for it have already been spotted at Walmart, but NECA’s own solicitation did not mention any store by name so I don’t think this will be exclusive to Walmart. Needless to say, I really dig this set for what it is and I think every TMNT collector should try to pick up the version they like best.

More from the world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

Playmates TMNT Original Sketch Turtles

Last week we took a Turtle Tuesday off which feels like a rarity for this blog. And that’s because there seems to be new stuff featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles branding coming out all of the time. And it’s only going to become more plentiful as the franchise celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.…

Keep reading
by Joe

NECA Mirage Studios Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4-Pack

When it comes to the popularity of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a lot of the credit goes to Playmates Toys. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created the characters born out of a joke. Credit them for having the vision to think this joke had appeal beyond their small circle as they self-published Teenage Mutant Ninja…

Keep reading
by Joe

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Classic Rocker Leonardo

When I was a kid, I had parents with divergent musical tastes. Dad likes oldies from the 50s and 60s while mom was more into modern rock (then 80s). One area where their tastes overlapped was Bruce Springsteen. We had several of his records in my house and I distinctly remember that cover to Born…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Comics, toys

July 25, 2024

Marvel Legends Retro Card Scarlet Spider

By Joe
Look whose come (wall) crawling back.

It was in this space last year that I shared my fondness for the Scarlet Spider costume when I reviewed the Medicom MAFEX Scarlet Spider action figure. I don’t buy much from Medicom because their figures are really expensive for what they are, but I sometimes break my own rule when I think they’ve made something I might not get elsewhere. Silly me, because Scarlet Spider would be featured in the Across the Spider-Verse movie that summer which meant, of course, that the character was on Hasbro’s radar. And it made further sense we’d see him once again in the Marvel Legends line since Hasbro seems to be updating all of their Spider-Men with pin-less limbs and toe hinges. When this particular Scarlet Spider went up for preorder, I put in an order because, what the hell? – I can use another one. Now that I have it, what do I think and how does it compare to its much more expensive counterpart?

If only they could literally fight it out.

Since I do have that MAFEX edition, I figured we could do this review a little differently. It’s going to be more like a comparison because that sounds fun to me. Besides, this Scarlet Spider from Hasbro is pretty much par for the course when it comes to a Marvel Legends Spider-Man. And from just a quick glance, it doesn’t look like a piece of crap next to the figure that’s roughly 4x more expensive. I mean, we are comparing a $100+ action figure to a $25 one in the same scale so, really, the more expensive one should be the better figure without question. Rather, we’re asking the question of does the gap in price correlate 1:1 with a gap in quality between the two? And do the more subjective elements of the figures play much of a role as well?

This Scarlet Spider is new, but not.

Before we can dive into it, we should at least do a quick rundown on this new version of Scarlet Spider from Hasbro. It’s on the newer Spider-Man body which most refer to as the Renew Your Vows body since that’s the two-pack it first debuted in. It’s not that different from the previous retro card body as demonstrated by my symbiote Spider-Man in the image above (left). The articulation is essentially the same, but the figure has new arms which are pin-less and the knees have been made pin-less as well. And it has the added toe hinge. It’s the same body as the animated symbiote Spider-Man (above, right) which I reviewed awhile back, only this one has the overlay for the sweatshirt. It’s fine, though not without flaws. This Spider-Man still sucks at doing splits and Hasbro is so bad at implementing double-ball pegs in the neck that they had to hollow out a cavity on the back of the neck to give the figure more range. It gives the head a floaty quality, at times, and for some reason the head is rather hollow. From most angles, it will be fine, but there are others where it looks downright goofy. And Scarlet Spider is a character that can get into some odd positions so it may be more of a problem here than it would be on another character.

I really hate this dumb neck cut-out.

All that aside, I like the look of this one. The red is rather saturated and pretty close to an actual scarlet. The hoodie has a nice look to it as it’s a dark blue with the big spider logo. The hood isn’t functional, but are you really going to display him with it on even if it were? I like the texture to the hoodie and and Hasbro at least painted the drawstrings white. The rest of the figure is mostly bare plastic. The eyes are painted on, but not all that well. There’s some paint on the ankle pouches and belt and it’s fine, nothing worthy of praise, but also not worthy of scorn. The web shooters are floating pieces and can come off if you so desire while the ankle pouches appear to be glued into place. I very much enjoy that he has the classic hoodie, but I wish the eye shape was more in-line with the character’s earliest appearances.

It’s a thwip-off!

The figure looks fine and I think the hoodie helps hide the small shoulders that plague a lot of Marvel Legends. It also helps to make the head look more appropriately sized. And it’s in the visual component where this figure will compare as well as it can to the MAFEX version. If we bring in that figure, it’s easy to see that the Legends figure is a bit bulkier. The hoodie is darker and has the bigger logo and the belt is more of a first appearance Scarlet Spider than the one Medicom went with. Both figures don’t “wow” in the paint department. While Medicom did apply some red shading to their figure, it’s barely noticeable. Their Scarlet Spider is also a brighter red and the soft goods hoodie is a lighter blue that even has a bit of a pearl finish. The smaller logo is not my preferred look as well, though Medicom did include my preferred eyes. The other heads included with that figure feature a more generic Spider-Man eye shape with one looking a little angry. They’re kind of worthless.

Thinking about how cool of a figure we’d have if I could combine the elements of both figures into one.

Am I giving Hasbro the nod in the looks department? Yes and no. I much prefer the art direction of the Hasbro figure. The bigger body, classic shirt and belt, but it does still have that not-so-great head. And I’m not just talking about the style of the portrait, but the lollipop effect it has going on. And while it has less articulation, the cuts present are more of an eyesore. The thigh twist looks awful if you use it and the same can be said of the waist twist and boot cuts. Meanwhile, the Medicom figure does a good job of hiding the joints even if there are a bunch of them. I guess that level of engineering is what we’re paying for?

MAFEX Scarlet Spider likes to show off all of his stuff.

That and the accessories! This aspect isn’t even a contest, because the Legends release blows. The only items included in the box are a set of fists, wall-crawling hands, and thwip hands. That’s it. No unmasked head, no webbing, no nothing. The Medicom release also lacks an unmasked portrait, but that’s pretty much the only thing it’s missing. You get all of the hands you could want: fists, thwip, grip, open, and even magnetic hands and feet to adhere the figure to a metal surface. There’s also a ton of web lines to mess around with and a stand. In fact, I’d say a hidden piece of value to these Medicom Spider-Man figures is that buying one can outfit about a half dozen so your Legends figures can partake in the webs. The only hindrance there is Hasbro almost never includes gripping hands with their Spider-Man action figures so you’re limited to the thwip effects or the ones that fit over a forearm.

My attempt at the card art pose with both figures. Hasbro left, Medicom right.

Articulation is an area where the Medicom figure should be better, but also one where the Hasbro release should at least be able to compete. And for the most part, it’s true. Basically, anything the Legends figure can do the Medicom figure can as well and probably better. The joints are just smoother, possess more range, and are just all around engineered better. However, there’s not much the Medicom can do that the Hasbro one can’t as well. About the only thing I feel like the Medicom figure clearly does better is crouch and get into a low crawl. Both figures feature some annoying drop-down hips that really don’t enhance the range of the legs all that much. Both can’t do forward splits either, though the MAFEX can do the splits out to the side where as the Legends figure needs to rotate its legs forward a bit on the ball joint. The butterfly on the MAFEX figure also works better and it’s aided by the soft goods hoodie. I will say, I was surprised at how little the plastic hoodie of the Legends figure got in the way. You can still engage the diaphragm joint pretty easily and there’s enough room to take advantage of the butterfly joint. It’s just a butterfly joint that doesn’t offer a whole lot to begin with.

And this just seemed like a fun swinging pose. With effort, the Legends figure can do some cool things, but it’s definitely way easier with the MAFEX release.

All right, so I think it’s pretty clear that the MAFEX Scarlet Spider does a lot more than the Legends one. We knew that though. What is less clear is if it’s superior by 75 bucks or so. And I think the answer there is “probably not.” Sort of like comparing a conventional sedan to a luxury model, yeah you’ll like the luxury model more, but you might prefer to keep the money it costs to upgrade over the standard model and spend it elsewhere. That’s just on a much bigger scale, but even here 75 bucks is nothing to sneeze at. That’s about what it costs to take my family of four out to eat at a decent restaurant, maybe before tip. It also can get someone three more Legends figures or maybe some third party web effects, stands, and some more stuff. I got the Medicom one first and I’m happy with it. I like the Legends release too, and I might even prefer the aesthetics of it over the Medicom one, but not enough to toss the MAFEX one on eBay or something. If I had neither and was thinking of getting just one, I’d probably be okay with the cheaper Marvel Legends release. There would be some temptation to go with the Cadillac, but pragmatism would probably win out.

If you only have the Legends figure, you’ll probably be all right. Though you may want to hunt down some webs.

That’s just me though. You may place more of a premium on articulation and “stuff” to the point where it’s much easier to just get the Medicom figure and be all set. I definitely didn’t need to get the Legends Scarlet Spider, but I justified it to myself because I’ll probably never buy another Scarlet Spider. Unless a really bad ass cel-shaded one surfaces from either company. Then we’ll be talking about this 90s relic for a third time.

“Why can’t we be friends…?”

We have more spider men to talk about if that’s your thing:

Medicom MAFEX Marvel No. 186 Scarlet Spider

When I was a kid, one of my favorite past times was drawing. Like most, I started really young with a box of crayons and coloring books. I’d eventually start keeping markers, colored pencils, and other instruments in a plastic McDonald’s case that came from a Happy Meal. It was blue and had a map…

Keep reading
by Joe

Marvel Legends Spider-Man ’94 Spider-Man vs Carnage

Last year, Hasbro celebrated the 30th anniversary of X-Men, the animated series that premiered on Halloween 1992 and would become a ratings hit shortly thereafter for the Fox Kids Network. It was responsible for getting a lot of kids into the X-Men and Marvel comics in general and the first, prime, benefactor of that rise…

Keep reading
by Joe

Marvel Legends Spider-Man (Animated)

It was in 2021 that Hasbro released a PulseCon exclusive Venom figure on a Spider-Man retro card. The retro card series is meant to stir-up nostalgia for all of the adults who were buying toys and watching cartoons in the 90s as the retro card is a facsimile of the old cards Toy Biz used…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Comics, toys

June 4, 2024

Playmates TMNT Original Sketch Turtles

By Joe
Who are these goofy looking boys?!

Last week we took a Turtle Tuesday off which feels like a rarity for this blog. And that’s because there seems to be new stuff featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles branding coming out all of the time. And it’s only going to become more plentiful as the franchise celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. I’ve made quite a few TMNT purchases already this year, but this is the first featuring a 40th anniversary logo and it’s appropriate that it comes from Playmates Toys.

Expect to see that 40th logo on many more TMNT products going forward.

Most likely know by now that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were co-created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman as basically a gag amongst the two. They gave birth to this franchise, but perhaps the entity most responsible for a little comic book becoming a global phenomenon is Playmates. Those toys released in 1988 set the world on fire in their target demographic. Playmates was basically a doll maker before it decided to take a chance on TMNT after more noteworthy action figure producers had said “No thanks.” And even though it seems like everyone is making TMNT toys these days, it’s still Playmates that is the primary master license holder when it comes to TMNT.

The original sketches are featured rather prominently on the packaging.

The legend goes, that one night while drawing together in Dover, New Hampshire, Kevin Eastman came up with the idea of a ninja turtle. He passed the doodle onto his partner in art, Peter Laird, who was amused enough by the concept to do his own interpretation. Sometime later, the idea of a group of four anthropomorphic, ninja, turtles was fleshed out in greater detail and committed to paper. This version of the turtles is now referred to as the “Original Sketch” turtles. Truthfully, I had never heard of this image referred to in that way until recently. The actual image has been less celebrated than the original drawings and the Mirage Studios version that followed for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1. Playmates has chosen to celebrate this sketch in action figure form. It makes sense since the original drawings were of a singular turtle which most resembled Michelangelo. Playmates has already made Mirage versions of the characters and even recently re-released them. This set of sketch turtles is basically untapped, but I doubt it will be the last we see of them.

Weapon storage, baby!

Shipping now to Target stores, the original sketch turtles come in window boxes adorned with recreations of original Eastman and Laird TMNT art. It has a black and white deco for the most part with a green “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” logo in a font similar to the original sketch. On the top flap and rear of the box are Laird and Eastman’s original take on a ninja turtle as well as a print of the original sketch itself. There’s a brief blurb about the origin of these fighting teens and the sides of the box are reserved for images of the toys themselves.

Each turtle comes with an ooze canister which doubles as a standee for the original sketch recreation.

Each turtle is released separately and in the box you will find a turtle, a broken canister of ooze, weapons, holsters (if necessary) and a piece of a diorama to recreate the original sketch posing when all are purchased. Each character retails for $15, though I was able to take advantage of a sale going on at Target and got them for around $10.50 a piece. There was only one of each character and they were stocked in the toy aisle with the other Playmates products. Some Targets appear to be stocking them towards the back of the store with the collectibles so you may have to hunt them down. It does seem like stores are only getting one set initially, but since it’s a Target exclusive item there are likely to be restocks. So far there has been no online drop, but one could still come.

You also get a street diorama piece with each figure. Mikey also comes with the detachable box and board.

Even though the original sketch was in black and white, these turtles are depicted in their Playmates colors. That means a different shade of green (or brown, in the case of Donatello) for each turtle plus colored bandanas and pads. These are basically prototype turtles so they look just as funky as the original art. They’re more like tortoises, and if Cecil from Looney Tunes got together with three of his buddies to cosplay as ninjas they might look something like these guys. As expected, there’s a lot of shared parts between the four brothers, but also more differences than folks are accustomed to. A lot of that is due to the four not having a uniform look to start. Leonardo, for example, is the only turtle with kneepads while Michelangelo doesn’t even have a belt. They’re little guys too standing at about 4.5″ in height. The bodies are practically spherical while the legs widen as they go ending in rather large feet. Leo and Donnie feature expressions that are mirror images of each other while Raph and Mikey use the same portrait.

The hollow feet are definitely not great.

The round body on these guys might be fairly hollow, but there’s a nice weight to each figure. The paint is sparse, but where it’s applied it’s fairly clean. It looks nice around the bandanas and it’s pretty good on the elbow pads. Michelangelo and Leonardo both have a blemish on their right eye, while Mikey’s paint at the elbow pads is noticeably sloppy compared with his brothers. If this were a $35 turtle I’d be more critical, but at this price range it’s acceptable. The black linework in the teeth is a surprising touch and there are a few painted hashmarks on the plastrons of each figure. Someone willing to fully paint these to tone down that plastic sheen could probably make these look really impressive. The only other thing about them I don’t care for are the hollow feet. Sure, you can’t see such a detail when they’re on a shelf so long as both feet are on the surface, but it looks pretty cheap and does remove the option for kick displays.

These turtles are quite diminutive, but not really out of place with other Playmates turtles.

As expected, each turtle comes with their signature weapons. Even in this early stage, Eastman and Laird knew how they wanted to arm their creations, with only one slight change. Donatello is the skimpiest since he has just his bo staff. It’s fine. The wraps are painted and there’s a little blackwash so it’s about as nice as a bo can look at this price range. Leonardo has two katana and they feature wavy, distorted, handles and blades. This is in-line with the original sketch and not a defect of the product. He has two detachable sheaths which plug into the rear of his belt. The sketch has them going sideways, but they’re on pegs so you can orientate them however you wish. Mikey has his two nunchaku and they’re done with real chains. In a departure from most versions of the character, his weapons storage is on his forearms. The handles of the ‘chuks slot into them and it’s something I think Mikey should do more often. Raph has his sai and I like the shape of them compared with most versions of the character. He also has a sword because the original depiction of the character had one. He comes with the same sheath as Leo and it plugs into the rear of his belt. The weapons are all either painted or make use of colored plastic so they look rather nice and the figures have no trouble holding them.

Of course, they look downright tiny beside a Super7 turtle.

You can probably take one look at these guys and figure that articulation isn’t going to be anything special, and you would be right. It’s pretty much standard Playmates for their modern TMNT toy lines. Hinged pegs are used for the neck, shoulders, elbows, knees, and hips and they get solid range, but I personally hate the approach for hips. The shoulders actually have really good range because of where they’re placed. There’s no ankle articulation and the wrists just swivel. Some of the joints are a little tight, but nothing is loose. They can basically do the poses they’re supposed to so you can recreate the original sketch or do your own thing. My only real gripe is I wish the wrist cut could have been better blended into the sculpt and the same is true for the knee. Leo has the benefit of knee pads to hide the knee cut, but none of the others do.

It’s getting a little nuts how many versions of these characters we’ve seen over the years.

Each turtle also comes with a diorama piece and the previously mentioned ooze canister. The canister is broken and there’s a sculpted puddle to go with it. It’s not something that was present in the original picture, but it’s obviously a big part of the origin story of the turtles. It looks okay with the canister bits painted. It serves another purpose though as there’s a slot in it to hold the included image of the original sketch. It’s printed on a thick piece of cardstock and it works as intended. A fun inclusion and it comes with each figure. The diorama pieces are part of a city street. Leonardo’s piece includes a manhole cover that is non-removable while Mikey also comes with a box and board so he can be positioned above his brothers to recreate the sketch. The board and box are surprisingly nice with a little dry-brushing on them. Raph and Donatello come with the same piece and all four can clip together to form a display. It’s fun, and better yet, it works as these guys can basically nail the pose from the drawing. The only shortcoming is Mikey was depicted spinning one of his ‘chuks, but Playmates didn’t include a spinning accessory. It’s the one detail I feel like they missed.

There are numerous ways to display these boys, but obviously this is the money shot. It’s not a perfect 1:1 recreation, but it’s pretty damn neat.

For 10-15 bucks, depending on your luck with Target sales, these are pretty solid and fun figures to own. No one has done turtles based on this sketch before and it’s cool to see Playmates tackle it. I’m sure others will follow and we already know that NECA is at least planning on doing the original two turtle sketches in figure form, though neither has been formally announced as of this writing. This is likely just the first of many 40th anniversary celebrations for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and it’s something I think most fans will want to add to their collection. It’s presently only available at Target, but Playmates stuff seems to rarely stay exclusive. I would not be surprised to see it offered later at online shops, or maybe even as a black and white variant (you know that’s coming) so don’t fret if you’re having a hard time tracking it down. Patience will be rewarded in the end.

Want to keep celebrating TMNT’s big milestone? Look no further:

NECA Mirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A dozen years ago, toy company NECA dipped its toe into the world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the first time, and shockingly it failed to stick around. That’s incredible to hear for collectors currently chasing down Bebop and Rocksteady at Target, but it’s the truth. There are a lot of folks at NECA…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Comics, toys

May 15, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3”

By Joe
Written by Beau DeMayo and Anthony Sellitti.

Today, X-Men ’97 dropped the curtain on its first season and what a way to bring it to an end. Last week’s episode was a roller coaster of emotions for me. I couldn’t go into much detail of my review of “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2” without wading into spoiler territory, so allow me to indulge myself before we get to this week’s episode. When one thinks of childhood trauma baked into media, the death of Bambi’s mom is probably the most often cited. If you’re an 80’s kid it might be the death of Optimus Prime in the first Transformers movie or the death of Littlefoot’s mother in The Land Before Time. The 90s kid has Mufasa while the comic book readers like me have X-Men #25. No one truly died in that issue, but it’s the infamous issue where Magneto decides he’s had enough of Wolverine and uses his magnetic powers to rip the metal off of his bones and force it through his pores and open wounds. It’s all anyone wanted to talk about concerning X-Men when it happened and it changed the character of Wolverine in a big way. Like basically all things in comics, Wolverine eventually regained his awesome adamantium skeleton, but it took a surprising amount of years for that to happen.

They did it. I can’t believe they did it.

Despite being one of the most singular, powerful, moments in X-Men history, that confrontation with Magneto has really just been confined to the page. The original X-Men animated series had just kicked-off its second season when it happened, but never touched it during the rest of its run. I remember feeling anxious during the Asteroid M episodes, “Sanctuary,” out of fear it might happen, but Wolverine escaped that arc unscathed. I remember my friend jumping in his seat when we saw the first X-Men movie in theaters when Magneto lifts Wolverine up on the train and asks “Does that remarkable metal run all through your body?” He thought, and I too, that Magneto might give a tug in that moment and I certainly thought it could be him laying the groundwork for a future confrontation that never arrived. Other animated efforts and movies that followed never did go to that well, but in its ninth episode X-Men ’97 did.

For a brief moment I thought we may be jumping straight to the mind wipe Xavier inflicted upon Magneto in response to his attack on Wolverine.

When Magneto emerged from Bastion’s imprisonment in the eighth episode and used his magnetic powers to attack the whole planet’s electrical grid is when I first felt X-Men #25 was on the table. It was similar to his attack to open that issue on the planet’s satellite defense system which knocked out power all across the globe. Even though much of the events of last week’s episode were mirroring the events of New X-Men from 2001, there was always the possibility of multiple plotlines converging. As I said in my review of last week’s episode, that “Greatest Hits” approach the original series and this one is able to take is part of what makes it so successful. When it was Wolverine who was tabbed to deliver the opening, “Previously…on X-Men,” line I pretty much knew what we were in for. It became even more obvious when Rogue basically assumed the role of Colossus from the Fatal Attractions plotline X-Men #25 is a part of by joining Magneto (along with Roberto) midway through the episode. It made it hard to enjoy all of the fan-service leading up to the final act with the return of the old costumes, the Hulk cameo, or Cyclops’ return dig at the film costumes as I was expecting the worst for old Wolverine. And even during the episode, my X-Men animated Wolverine figure decided to take a shelf dive. I’d love to say it was during that scene, but I don’t remember because I was engrossed in the show and only after it was over did I check to see who fell. He knew.

Wolverine’s claws covered in blood – something we never could see in the original series.

The final scene of the episode was done exceptionally well, though it still left a glimmer of hope that Wolverine would not be subjected to his worst injury to date. When he removes Magneto’s helmet to allow Xavier a chance to attack him with his telepathic powers, the imagery was evocative of Xavier’s answer to Magneto’s brutal assault on Logan from X-Men #25. For a brief moment, I thought he might be spared. Then Cyclops blasted his mentor, not because he was turning on him or anything, but because Gold Team had not yet taken down Bastion and they couldn’t risk Xavier, through Magneto, re-activating the Prime Sentinels.

“Been in a lot of wars, bub – the brave always die first.” A great callback to Magneto’s line from the season finale of the original show’s first season, “The Final Decision.”

That’s when Wolverine struck. In actually more graphic fashion compared with the comic from which the story was taken, we get to see a flash of his claws and then the ends protrude through Magneto’s torso. At that moment, I could only watch with both dread and awe since there was no going back now. The attack was brief. We got just a quick shot of each character’s reaction, friend and foe alike, at Wolverine’s attack. It was like all of the participants in the melee up to that point were just made aware that violence has consequences, like a bunch of kids play-fighting in the yard until someone gets really hurt. The final image of Wolverine in mid-air with the adamantium oozing out of his body was a near 1:1 recreation of Andy Kubert’s artwork. It was chilling and a hell of a way to end an episode of television. I was riding an exercise bike on my first viewing and I wish I had thought to check my heartrate readings on my fitness app when it was all said and done. I was covered in sweat, more than usual after a workout, and that same pit in my stomach I felt as a 9 year old in 1993 had returned.

The plot with Wolverine made me completely forget that we may have witnessed the death of Jean. Again.

The moment was so captivating that it practically erased everything that came before it. I had to watch it again to be reminded of the fact that Morph and Beast had been defeated and were at the mercy of Bastion last we saw them. Sinister had taken control over Cable like he did his mother before him unleashing his telekinetic powers on Jean. She was able to make psychic contact with Cyclops, and through her, he saw what was going down just long enough for her to tell him she loved him before Cable’s blast engulfed her. And at Asteroid M, Magneto is likely mortally wounded or damn close to it while Xavier had Magneto’s helmet basically crushed around his skull neutralizing his psychic powers. This concept is new to the show as when the original aired the idea that Magneto’s helmet was designed to protect him from Xavier had not been invented yet. You can even see in the show’s fourth episode Xavier attack him with the helmet on, but I don’t mind it being a new wrinkle for this show as basically every version of the X-Men has done the same.

We open on a flashback we’ve heard about before.

As a kid, I don’t know how many times I read X-Men #25 and its follow-up, Wolverine #75, so I had a good idea what was going to happen in this season finale (in case you forgot, that’s what we’re here to talk about today) in space. I was less certain about the Bastion plot, but I had some ideas. Given the nature of how the last episode ended, there isn’t much I can say about the plot of this one that doesn’t spoil something, but I’m sure I can find something to talk about. The “Previously…” line is delivered by Magneto and our opening credits contain few surprises. More Dark Phoenix, more Apocalypse, but also a new scene of Magneto and Xavier unleashing their powers for the first time in front of each other on some terrorists from “Enter Magneto.”

Wolverine will not be doing much this episode.

And we’re shown that flashback because that is essentially where the episode begins. A young Xavier and Magneto having some drinks in a bar in a war torn country chatting about the potential for mutants. The war setting is even established by the opening chords of the famous song by The Byrds “Turn! Turn! Turn!” which I thought we all agreed we were done with? That and Credence Clearwater Revival. It’s at least brief which probably saved Disney a few bucks. Outside of the flashback, the episode is going to pick-up right where we left off with Wolverine in bad shape and the Earth heading for catastrophe. The only one who can heal the Earth’s magnetic field is Magneto and he needs some convincing.

Gold Team! This is no time for a nap!

At ground level, we last saw Bastion essentially victorious. And he will be ready for his victory lap that villains are so fond of, but as is often the case, the celebration is premature. Again, I’m not here to spoil anything, but I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the X-Men will need to deal with this guy. If last episode was more of the Magneto conflict, then this one is definitely more on Bastion. He is pretty set on eradicating mutants, and once that is done, he intends to rule over humanity since they can’t exactly be trusted either. And if he can’t do either, well, let’s just say that’s something he won’t respond to very well. And if that weren’t enough, the world super powers are left mulling what to do about the Magneto Protocols. Should the grid get restored, not only will the Prime Sentinels be reactivated, but President Kelly will have access to the missile defense system crafted especially for targeting Asteroid M.

Okay, perverts, happy now?!

The X-Men had split into Blue and Gold teams last episode, but it’s going to take all able-bodied X-Men to stop Bastion. A large portion of the episode is devoted to the battle that you knew was going to happen and, as has been the case with this show, it’s quite satisfying and spectacular. The action direction continues to be a strong point and the animation staff is up to task. Since we’re dealing with a finale here, there is an effort to give everyone some time to shine, provided they were able to stand at the conclusion of the last episode. The episode also pays more than lip-service to actual character growth and this is the episode that is able to cash in on the smaller moments (and some big ones) that we saw throughout this first season.

Sunspot has been allowed to cut loose these past few episodes which has been fun to see.

Where this episode did stumble a bit for me is that it’s basically a small portion of fallout from the previous episode, then a whole bunch of action, and then setup for next season. It’s become routine in the streaming age for shows to be serialized and include a lot of cliffhangers and X-Men ’97 is no different. I received some Game of Thrones vibes from the show when watching this one as the penultimate episode was where a lot of the spectacle was while this one felt a bit more like clean-up followed by setup. They left no room for the characters to really respond to what happened last week. It’s mentioned only in passing and we see Wolverine’s banged up body a few times, but we get almost nothing from the characters. How is Jubilee processing this? She and Wolverine were tight. Is anyone mad at him for pushing Magneto as far as he did by getting all stabby on him? Again, we don’t know and the way the episode ends makes it seem like it’s a thing we’re just not going to address at all and that feels like a real missed opportunity for a show that loves the soapy drama.

At least Morph seems to care.

Like last week, expect to be tickled by several cameos. Some are repeat cameos, but many are all new. Sure, it can feel like stunt-casting or something akin to it, but considering the plot in this episode has worldwide ramifications it makes sense to get a look around the globe. It’s certainly interesting and makes me wonder if X-Men ’97 will turn into a launching pad for an animated universe set in the 90s. Nostalgia for the period will likely never be hotter than it is now so it wouldn’t be Marvel and Disney’s worst idea. As long as my X-Men show doesn’t become overrun by non-mutant superheroes I’m all for it. Even if I personally have little interest in revisiting the other 90s Marvel cartoons.

I love everything about this shot.

I may seem a little down on this episode, but that’s only because the prior two were so strong. This is indeed a good episode, and it’s a long one at that, and DeMayo and Sellitti do some great stuff with their dialogue. There are certain characters they write so well and it’s on display in this episode. There’s also more callback lines to the original series and its woven in effectively and with purpose. There’s some heavy stuff intermingled with the action concerning Xavier and Magneto and this episode is one of the first pieces of X-Men media that really convinces the audience that Xavier and Magneto care deeply for each other. They’re not just paying lip-service to the “old friend” label they like to toss around so casually.

This episode concludes what has inarguably been a successful first season for X-Men ’97. The second season is in production so the wait should not be as long as it was from announcement to premiere. I suspect we will hear more at San Diego Comic Con this summer. Series creator and showrunner Beau DeMayo was heavily involved in the second season and it can be assumed much of his vision will make it to air. Following that, we’ll be heading into some unchartered waters with the show. Disney and DeMayo have remained tight-lipped on why he was let go from the series just before the premiere which is unfortunate because it would be nice to know if fans should be advocating for Disney to reverse that decision. If he was fired because of an OnlyFans account or creative differences, then that was probably a stupid decision given how well this show has turned out (and for the record, the OnlyFans thing would be stupid if the show sucked too). If he was fired over workplace misconduct or something (and full disclosure – I have no idea why he was let go and I’m just tossing out examples) then all right, that’s not someone I’d want to go to bat for. This stuff has a way of getting out so it’s more probable than not we’ll know in time, but for now, I’m extremely satisfied with how X-Men ’97 turned out. I’m also extremely bummed about not having a new episode to look forward to next week. This is going to be an intolerable wait.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2”

Magneto was right. That was the realization many characters seemed to share at the end of last week’s episode of X-Men ’97. As we roll into the penultimate episode of the show’s first season, a lot is on the line and the show is drawing inspiration from several different sources related to the X-Men over…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 1”

Ever since the episode list was released for X-Men ’97 I’ve been looking forward to what reads like an epic, three-part, season finale. In truth, given that X-Men ’97 is a serialized show you could basically call every episode “X-Men ’97 Season 1 Part 1” and so on, but the titles do add a dramatic…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Comics, Television

April 23, 2024

NECA TMNT Mirage Foot Enforcer

By Joe
He’s got some enforcin’ to do.

When a regular Foot Ninja just won’t cut it, The Shredder has to turn to the Foot Enforcer. This brute of a specimen is bigger, stronger, and comes packed to the gills with an assortment of weapons designed to reduce the turtles into a pile of flesh and shell. And they’re needed, because how often have you seen the turtles turn a practical army of Foot Soldiers into fodder? They need a challenge as much as the Foot need a win, and that’s why we have the Foot Enforcer.

The Foot Enforcer from NECA Toys’ line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures based on their appearance in the pages of Mirage Studios was actually a 2023 release. It was styled after some colorized issues of the books released by IDW, the current license holder/partner for TMNT when it comes to printed media. Those colors put the Foot in a shadowy scheme of black, blue, and purple. It’s a similar combination to what we saw way back with the Loot Crate Shredder. I am personally just collecting the more traditional color scheme of maroon and gray which is what the original NYCC edition of the Shredder and Foot came styled as so I skipped last year’s release. I was betting on this version eventually coming out and my bet paid off as part of this year’s Haulathon is the Mirage Studios version of the Foot Enforcer and he was worth the wait.

He’s a big, chunky, boy with a big weapon.

The Foot Enforcer comes in the standard trapezoidal box with new artwork on the sides from series co-creator Kevin Eastman. The Enforcer stands a tick over 6.5″ and is basically a normal Foot Ninja as far as costuming goes until you get to the head. There he sports a helm with a face covering not unlike the Shredder himself with some fabric draped over the back and side of the head. He also has some spiky gauntlets for added intimidation. What lurks under that helmet is a mystery as what would be the exposed part of his face is painted black with two red slits for eyes. He definitely looks a great deal more intimidating than the usual Foot and not someone I’d personally want to run into in a dark alley.

This is a good example of parts reuse from NECA.

The paint job is typical NECA with lots of flat colors enhanced by black linework and a touch of shading. The shading is reserved for the top of the helm which has a nice comic look to it as well as the sides of the little spikes on his gauntlets. That’s an impressive little detail that adds a nice touch. Some of the parts of this guy are likely reused from the similarly built four-armed Shredder clone. Basically the arms and the legs which was to be expected. The forearm assembly is the same as the clone Shredder with the forearms plugging onto the meat just past the elbow. I guess that means, if you wanted to, you could swap forearms between the two. The hands wouldn’t match though as the Shredder clone had brown skin, but it’s there if you want it.

It’s easy to forget how big and chunky the turtles are too.

This figure looks awesome, there’s no simpler way to put it. I love the size of him and the heft I feel when I pick it up. This is a solidly built action figure, and after handling so many figures recently made by another company which charges almost 20 bucks more per figure, this is just like a nice treat to behold. And NECA made sure this bad boy was outfitted with all kinds of stuff to properly massacre the turtles on your shelf. For hands, he has a set of fists, gripping, chop, and a set of gripping hands also making a “Devil Horns” gesture. Those hands appear to be included just for the tri-handled nunchaku he has. The thumb is molded to the middle finger so the handles of this weapon can just slide snugly into place and look cool doing so. The other gripping hands are best used with the other weapons: short sword, long sword, and naginata. The short sword has a spiked handguard which looks vicious while the long sword has some nice size to it. The naginata is much longer with a long blade at one end and a pommel with red “ribbon” on the other. From tip to tip it’s nearly 7.25″ so it’s quite big. All of the weapons are well-painted with a little linework on the blades to give them that comic look. The nunchaku-like weapon is not painted, but it’s three, gray, handles all joined by black thread and looks appropriate enough.

This guy can definitely handle more adversity than your typical Foot Ninja, but probably not this much.

For articulation, this guy is pretty standard. He was a bit stiff out of the box in some places, in particular the biceps, but nothing that couldn’t get worked out with a little effort and patience. The head doesn’t get much range looking up because of the cowl, but all of the other directions are adequate. The cowl is soft plastic and it can slide underneath the shoulder pads or over them if you wish. Arms and legs are standard with double joints where you would expect. The meatiness of his forearms means he can’t really bend the elbow past 90 degrees, but I think most will be satisfied. Because the forearms plug onto the arms you do get a swivel point there. All of the hands feature a horizontal hinge, a repeated error by NECA. The way the armor continues onto the backs of the hands likely would have made vertical hinges a little tricky to utilize, but I think NECA is more than capable of figuring that out.

This guy is good for mostly basic poses. The lack of a butterfly joint does limit how much one can do with the weapons. There’s also really nothing in the torso aside from the waist twist which is a bummer. I’d have taken the trade-off of breaking up the sculpt a bit to get a diaphragm cut into this thing. NECA likes to go with overlays for the torso of its figures so it’s not a surprise they did it this way, but it (along with the vertical wrist hinges) is a change I’d advocate for across the board with their figures.

These guys look pretty good together, but these more modern figures from NECA do put the old ones to shame in some respects.

If you’re collecting NECA’s line of TMNT based on the Mirage Studios looks, this guy strikes me as a no-brainer for your shelf. You could probably get by without a Baxter (I know I am) or a Renet, but a big, beefy, Foot Ninja adds some nice shelf presence. The real challenge is stopping at just the one. This figure is currently being shipped to Target stores in the US and has been solicited on costumes.com for international purchase. It is not a Target exclusive though and it’s expected that this figure will eventually be sold through online retailers in the near future. If you want it, it might be a little tricky in the short term (the online drop at Target has come and gone), but not long term so don’t cave for an eBay price unless it’s close to MSRP.

Looking to add more figures to your NECA Mirage TMNT collection:

NECA Mirage Shredder and Foot Clan NYCC Exclusive Set

The Shredder had a rough go at things for awhile when it came to plastic. He was featured rather prominently in the old Playmates line, though perhaps not as prominently as one would expect. Playmates never did do a movie version of him, aside from Super Shredder, and his figure was arguably the worst from…

Keep reading
by Joe

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Shredder Clones

NECA and Target’s Haulathon event which has seen a vast assortment of product dumped onto shelves recently was not content to limit the products to just the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Far from it, as an assortment of comic book based characters were also released and today we’re going to look at the first…

Keep reading
by Joe

TMNT Loot Crate – First Appearance Shredder

It was back during the winter that Loot Crate announced a series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle crates for 2020. At the time, Loot Crate had done one previous crate that was apparently intended to test the waters to see what the appetite was for this sort of thing among the TMNT fanbase. It didn’t…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Comics, toys

April 9, 2024

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Kirby

By Joe
Hail to the King, baby!

Say the name “The King” to a comic book fan and they will immediately know of whom you speak. Jack Kirby is a titan in the world of comics. Creator or co-creator of a great many characters known throughout the world today, it’s hard to imagine what a comic book would look like without his influence. It was probably around the 1980s when the kids who grew up reading his work themselves broke into comics when his legacy and influence really started to shine. Two of his biggest fans also happened to be the co-creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Such big fans of Kirby were they that they essentially wrote him into an issue of one of their comics. The Donatello one-shot, “Kirby and the Warp Crystal,” sees the brainy turtle pulled into an another dimension where he has to work with a comic book artist by the name of Kirby to save the native inhabitants of this world and make it home. Kirby, with his pencil that has a magic stone affixed to it, is able to bring to life whatever he draws on his pad of paper. The issue has been re-released multiple times and included in trade paperbacks and was even adapted into an episode of the 2003 cartoon series where it was simply titled “The King.”

It’s impressive how detailed the sketch of Donatello turned out.

Through NECA’s line of action figures based on the Mirage Studios version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles we now have Jack Kirby – the action figure. Technically, it’s just Kirby and he is based on Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s caricature of Jack Kirby himself. It’s a release done with the blessing of Kirby’s estate and the credits on the bottom of the box reference the Kirby for Hero’s program and The Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center. Jack Kirby is mostly known for being an incredible artist, but he’s also known as a strong advocate for creator’s rights. Kirby, like a great many comic book artists, created their work under work-for-hire contracts that gave the publisher sole, creative, control over anything the artist came up with. It’s an unjust and unfair practice that has at least improved since the 1960s, but is hardly perfect.

“Thanks for the hardware, Kirby!”

The Kirby action figure isn’t one that is necessarily meant to “wow” those who buy it. It is, after all, an action figure of a middle-aged man with a pencil and paper, but it’s Jack Kirby! It comes in the standard trapezoidal box with brand new artwork on the front and sides by Kevin Eastman with product shots featured on the back. There is a cross-sell that would seem to indicate a new Triceraton infantryman character is on the way which makes sense since it would allow NECA to get more use out of the tools created for Zog. The other characters on the cross-sell are the Mirage-colors Foot Enforcer (coming soon) and the much awaited Rat King, a figure that was shown off last year at San Diego Comic Con.

“Ok, I’ll give it a try, but I can only draw stick figures.”

Out of the box, Kirby stands just a tick over the 6″ mark. He’s featured in a green sweater over a pale yellow, collared, shirt with blue slacks and brown loafers. It’s a simple figure, but it’s brightly painted with liberal use of black linework to give it that comic “pop” the line is known for. Kirby’s face is a mixture of excitement and concentration like his mind is working in overdrive to come up with something imaginative to capture on his pad of paper. The likeness to the artwork is very well done and, in turn, the likeness to the actual Jack Kirby is pretty solid as well. It’s a comic book version of Kirby and I think it works pretty well to capture how he probably looked in the 60s and 70s. There aren’t any obvious paint blemishes on my figure and everything appears to be in order.

The blaster doesn’t really fit the new turtle bodies all that well. It gets hung-up on the elbow pad.

What do you give an action figure of a comic book artist for accessories? Why, a pencil and paper, of course! Kirby has his pencil affixed with the magic stone. It’s this teeny, tiny, little item that is exceptionally painted for something so small. I’m not seeing any slop on the black thread holding the purple stone in place which is really impressive. Kirby has a set of fists, but he also has a right hand that is fixed into a pencil holding position to accept the accessory. I do question the wisdom of doing it this way. While it’s impressive how well the little pencil turned out, making it part of the hand mold might have made more sense as I fear this item getting lost. Kirby also has a wide gripping, left, hand and he’ll need it to hold his pad of paper. It’s a spiral-bound notebook and on one side is a sketch of Donatello from that issue with the special arm canon Kirby conjures up for him and on the rear is a demonic-looking character. Kirby also has a set of more standard gripping hands should you wish to give him some weapons or something, but I don’t know why you would.

This new version of the Gravitic Equalizer also lacks a lot of the paint hits as the one that came with the Fugitoid.

Also included in the box is a familiar accessory. It’s the blue arm canon (dubbed the Gravitic Equalizer by Kirby) from the Donatello one-shot which was previously released with Fugitoid. This time it has considerably less paint as it’s just all blue with black linework. The back of the box shows Kirby paired with the more recent, Jim Lawson, Donatello, but this accessory is meant for the original Eastman/Laird turtles that NECA did way back in 2008. I had no success getting this thing onto the newer turtles as they have bigger arms. Maybe some heat and persistence could cure that? The biggest accessory though is this little, red and gray demon from that very same issue. This little guy was created by Eastman and Laird, but very much looks like something Jack Kirby would have dreamt up. He’s about 3.125″ tall and features basic articulation at the head, shoulders, and hips. There’s more paint on this guy than a whole wave of Marvel Legends and he has this little hammer accessory. It’s gray with black shading and looks pretty neat. His hands aren’t the most pliable so you may want to heat them up if you want him to get a real good grip on it.

Kirby also comes with a little buddy.

Articulation for Kirby is pretty solid and typical of the more human characters we see in NECA’s cartoon TMNT line. He’s got a ball-jointed head, hinged pegs at the shoulders, double-elbows that feature a hinged ball peg at the top and bottom, forearm swivel, wrists that swivel and hinge horizontally, ball-jointed waist, ball-socket hips, thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, ankle swivel, ball-hinged feet, and an ankle rocker. The shirt overlay will limit his movement in the torso, but his arm range is a plus and he won’t have any issue sketching on that notepad. The NECA double elbows are in effect and I know some people hate how these look. I’ve always maintained I think they look okay on sleeved arms like this so I’m fine with their use here. I like the extra forearm swivel they provide and I like that the hinged ball at the ankle pegs into the shin so we get a little extra swivel there. The only thing I don’t love is the “diaper” at the crotch which restricts leg movement. I can see a lot of collectors wanting to pair this figure with a 1:12 scale chair and desk and getting him to sit might be a problem.

And when I say little I do mean little.

A figure of a comic book artist isn’t as exciting as that of a ninja or a cyborg, but the fact that it’s Jack Kirby certainly adds a tantalizing layer to it. I can’t tell if this is a figure NECA will have a hard time moving a lot of units for or if it’s the type of figure that’s going to do very well as non-TMNT collectors may jump at the chance of owning a small version of The King. It’s a tremendously fun homage and I think my only true critique is I do wish it could have come with a chair and drafting table. Even if it upped the cost or we had to drop the little demon guy, I would have done it. I can see people creating displays of Kirby at a desk drawing away with a shelf over his head of his many creations in dramatic action poses. This is a fun one and I’m sure it was a dream come true for Kevin Eastman to make this figure a reality.

Kirby is going to hang out on my shelf with the O.G. turtles

Kirby is currently hitting Target stores as part of the NECA Haulathon event, but expect him to be made available at other retailers in the not too distant future. At Target, he’ll set you back $35 which I think is a pretty good price for this one.

Check out more from NECA’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pulled from the pages of Mirage Studios:

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Triceraton Zog

Haulathon 2023 has brought some pretty big releases to NECA’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures. And I mean big in a literal sense. REX-1 was tall and hefty and the multi-armed clone of Shredder was no slouch either. Those two seem to pale in comparison to Zog, the Triceraton warrior from NECA’s…

Keep reading
by Joe

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Fugitoid

I’m having a hard time coming up with an action figure line that has had retail releases separated by more than a decade. I don’t mean long-running lines of figures like G.I. Joe or Marvel Legends which have been around for decades, I mean a line that was started, ended, then re-started like NECA’s line…

Keep reading
by Joe

NECA Mirage Studios Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4-Pack

When it comes to the popularity of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a lot of the credit goes to Playmates Toys. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created the characters born out of a joke. Credit them for having the vision to think this joke had appeal beyond their small circle as they self-published Teenage Mutant Ninja…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Comics, toys

April 8, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super Son Goku Ultra Instinct – Toyotarou Edition

By Joe
Still Goku’s most powerful form.

It’s sort of interesting to me that the first Dragon Ball action figure I review after the passing of creator Akira Toriyama is one based off of the artwork of his protege – Toyotarou. Toyotarou basically lived the dream of fanfic artist and writer turned official. It’s rumored that he worked on the fan-fic manga Dragon Ball AF, though I don’t know if that’s ever been confirmed or refuted, and he was the artist and writer for Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission. All of this work within the Dragon Ball universe must have put him on Toriyama’s radar for it was he who selected Toyotarou to be the artist for the Dragon Ball Super manga.

This figure comes in a much larger box than usual.

As a celebration of Toyotarou’s contributions to Dragon Ball and to also celebrate 15 years of S.H. Figuarts Dragon Ball releases, Bandai decided to release this special Toyotarou edition of the previously released Ultra Instinct Son Goku figure from Dragon Ball Super. The figure has been outfitted with new face plates to better reflect Toyotarou’s art style, which really isn’t all that different from Toriyama’s. The main feature seems to be narrower eyes which have a different sharpness about them. Toyotarou was also able to influence the expressions we have here and the figure received a slight re-deco to more reflect the colorization of the manga vs the anime. To cap it off, this release comes in an oversized box which also includes a book. Titled the Dragon Ball S.H.Figupedia, it catalogs all of the figures released in the line and also includes some short interviews and quotes from the people who are closest to the line. The only omission of note is Toriyama himself which is a bit of a shame. Maybe Dragon Ball action figures just weren’t his thing?

And the box is much larger than usual because it has this book all about the S.H.Figuarts line.

The figure itself is a reissue so it’s going to be pretty familiar to anyone who has the old figure. It’s also familiar to really anyone who has purchased a Goku from this line. For me, I never got the initial figure and there’s actually a lot more “new” here than I would have expected. He does share a lot of parts with one of the Goku figures I have and that’s the Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-Ken edition. Both figures feature the same legs and arms, though for this figure the hole for the sleeves in the shoulder has been removed. The belt piece is different since it needed to include the tattered remains of Goku’s blue undershirt and the torso is completely different since this Goku is bare-chested. Basically every Goku uses the same hands and feet while the heads are obviously completely different. I believe the main hair piece is the same as before too, though it may have been modified for these new faces as these key-into the sculpt in a unique manner from what I’ve been exposed to.

There’s certainly new stuff here, but from the waist down these two figures are the same
Ultra Instinct lends itself well to simple, calm, posing.

Goku stands at roughly 5.75″ to the top of where his head should be. The hair is a nice, pearl, silver and it’s an opaque piece of plastic, not translucent like some special edition figures we’ve seen. The ears on all of the faces are slightly larger as that is something Toyotarou feels is a part of his take on Goku and I honestly wouldn’t have noticed if he didn’t point it out in the included interview. The facial details are very sharp and crisp as this continues to be a real strength for the line. The torso and arms have sculpted battle damage, but no paint to bring them out. There is a slight wash to the torso and shoulders, a soft pink or orange which does give the figure a nice bit of warmth. It’s not on the rear of the torso which looks cold as a result. There appears to a hint of a dark wash to the pants which I mostly notice in the crotch and at the tips of the frayed parts. Otherwise, paint is mostly reserved for the wrist bands, boots, and some of the exposed flesh of the legs. The colors match well throughout and I am still quite fond of this torn gi sculpt. All in all, a nice looking version of Goku.

I’m really digging this eyes closed portrait.
They never stood a chance.

The different faces and hair help to bring this figure to life. Out of the box, Goku has the silver hair that most resembles the shape of his natural hair, but he also has a windswept version to swap to for action shots. Both look very nice and it will be hard to settle on a display for very long. His default face is a stoic one, but he also has a yelling portrait, side-eye, clenched teeth, and an eyes closed option. The eyes closed option is pretty damn cool and suits this form rather well, though it’s hard to turn-down how expressive the opened eyes are. I’m not normally into the side-eye options, but this one is like a glare. Whoever is getting the side-eye treatment from Goku is really pissing him off. For hands, the usual assortment is at play here: fists, martial arts posed, Kamehameha, and open. Nothing really special there and no effect part was included. That’s the only downgrade from the initial release which had a charging blast effect. It would have been nice to get one of those, though we have received quite a few of late. Really, a new aura would have been awesome as Ultra Instinct has this thick, almost syrupy, silver aura at times in the anime. It would have been fun to see Tamashii Nations attempt that.

The wind swept hair is a nice touch.
Maybe I should have grabbed Jiren after all so this Goku would have someone to battle?

The articulation for this Goku is virtually the same as the many other Goku figures we have received over the years save for the most recent Legendary Super Saiyan version which is on an all new body. I’ll link to some at the end of this entry if you want the full write-up, but suffice to say it all works just as well here, if not better. And it’s only better because there’s no shirt to have to deal with, but that was never a huge hindrance anyway. He actually can’t bring his arms across his chest any better than other figures and maybe a touch less. You just don’t have the sleeve flaps to fiddle with which is nice. I also can’t tell if there is a hinged peg setup in the diaphragm or if there’s just a little play on joint itself. It doesn’t lift as high as the other Goku figures, if so, but the clearance is fine and you get some forward and back articulation. It’s a well articulated Goku and the only things I dislike is the hinged ball peg at the head and the ball peg ankles.

Goku’s determined face.

The included book is basically the flagship accessory for this figure. Is that better than a blast effect? Yeah, kind of. Only because the book is unique and pretty well done. There isn’t anything truly revealing in it, no earth-shattering details about the development of the line or anything like that. It’s mostly just a celebration of the line and the product shots inside are all from the various solicitations we’ve seen in the past. I was hoping for a tease or maybe a reveal at the end of the book, but there’s nothing like that in it. It basically includes up to the Mecha Frieza figure, which is about to be released, and nothing beyond that. In terms of figures that have been revealed, it’s already out of date, but it probably would have been impossible for that to be avoided unless they had prototypes available for photography well in advance of the solicitations. Perhaps they could have done something to future-proof it a little via concept art or renders, but it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference. It’s fun to flip through and the quality is pretty standard stuff. It’s 143 pages and in full color. There’s a dust cover on it, though it is a soft cover book. I like stuff like this so this was a selling point for me. Some people might not care and want more out of the figure for 80 bucks.

The book should be pretty fun for those who have been into this line for years.

The Ultra Instinct Son Goku – Toyotarou edition is a solid release for Bandai and Tamashii Nations. The figure captures the Toyotarou aesthetic rather well and I think it’s an improvement over the original release. It just stinks for those who missed out on that figure and wanted this one and had no interest in paying for the book. The figure doesn’t come with a whole lot and is basically like a 50 dollar release for the line meaning you’re paying about 30 bucks for the book and fancy packaging. When the first edition of this figure came out I wasn’t really sold on the Ultra Instinct design so I passed on it. I’ve warmed to it a bit since so I was happy about this new version as well as the included book. Yeah, I do wish there was an effect part or something else in the box, but I’m fairly content. I’m curious how many more Goku reissues on this body are to come. It feels like we’re on the verge of Bandai moving to a new body for the star of Dragon Ball and I’ll be curious to see if that does indeed happen. This figure was a Premium Bandai exclusive where the MSRP was $80. It’s sold out so if you want it you will have to track one down elsewhere. Maybe you’ll be able to get it for less if you don’t want the book? More likely, it will cost you more.

You like Goku? We’ve got Goku:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan 3 Son Goku

I believe I have touched on it before, and it’s also probably common knowledge among fans of Dragon Ball, that the story was supposed to end with Gohan’s triumph over Perfect Cell. Goku was dead and gone having sacrificed himself to save the world, but his son would carry on his legacy in his own…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Comics, toys

March 27, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Fire Made Flesh”

By Joe

Well, that was a long wait! After the two episode premiere of X-Men ’97 on March 20th I was ready for that third episode. The week long wait felt both excruciating and exhilarating. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an X-Men show to get excited about, or really an X-Men anything, and it’s been a lot of fun to see the early reception the new show has received over the past week. And it doesn’t hurt that the second episode, like the first, ended on a pretty major cliffhanger.

“Mutant Liberation Begins” was an episode that thrust Magneto into the spotlight. What are his goals now that he’s been handed the keys to the mansion? Turns out, he seems to want to give this whole unity thing a try, but humanity is making it difficult. He orchestrated a trip to Genosha for The Morlocks (and asked in doing so why Xavier and the X-Men never did this to begin with to which I agree) and submitted himself for judgement before the United Nations. There, Magneto’s politics were on full display and the show pulled no punches in highlighting who the enemy is, in both the real world and the fantasy one occupied by the characters of this show. It also proved costly for Storm was wounded by the F.O.H. aligned enemy, X-Cutioner, and rendered powerless. This lead to her departure at the conclusion of the episode in an emotionally charged scene, but the sadness wasn’t allowed to linger long for knocking at the door was a mysterious woman in some distress. Oh, and she looks exactly like Jean Grey.

Episode 2 ended on quite the cliffhanger.

Fans of the comics, or those who have just read up on X-Men lore, know a bit of where this should be going. And the show hasn’t hid the fact that Madelyne Pryor, The Goblin Queen, is to play a role in the show this season. Just how it will unravel remains a mystery. Who is the real Jean? Where did this other one come from? And what of the baby born to Scott and Jean in the previous episode? Many questions, and I’m sure all will be answered eventually, but they can’t all be tidied up in just one episode, though “Fire Made Flesh” is sure going to try.

Seeing what gets swapped into and out of the opening title is going to be fun.

The opening title has been updated to, sadly, remove Storm (aside from the group shots). We are treated to multiple cuts of recreated scenes from The Dark Phoenix Saga, and some were present last week, and I’m guessing this swappable scenes approach is going to come in and out in a way to spotlight what’s to follow. And it’s actually Jean (Jennifer Hale) who gets to deliver the “Previously, on X-Men…” line. Last week it was Magneto, who will get a turn next week?

This episode does find time to address why Bishop is present with the team, though don’t expect any real details on how he ended up here.

The episode begins right where the previous one left off. There are two Jeans, and only of them can be real. To my surprise, that question is answered almost immediately. I try to refrain from spoilers as much as possible, and if you couldn’t tell based on my introductory paragraphs, I’ll use the following week’s episode review to kind of react to the prior episode in a more spoiler fashion. In other words, make sure you’re up-to-date before reading one of these reviews, but you should be okay to read the current week’s before actually watching it, if you so desire. Anyway, I will refrain from outing who the Goblin Queen is, but obviously she has to be one of the two Jeans and she is not going to take kindly to finding out she isn’t the real Jean.

We knew the Goblin Queen was coming and she does not disappoint.

The act structure of the episode is basically as follows. The first part deals with the aftermath of the previous episode while the second act is The Mansion vs the X-Men. The Goblin Queen uses her powers to distort reality and force the X-Men to see their greatest fears, or just demons. For Morph, they’re going to see Mr. Sinister and a returning Roberto gets taunted by images of his mother, who doesn’t know he’s a mutant and he suspects will not take that news well. The rest are treated to their own version of Dante’s Inferno and it’s a visual delight. Rarely do the X-Men get to go full horror, and we get to see more creative team-up maneuvers from characters here as the action continues to be a highlight of the show.

There are some horror elements present in this one which is pretty unique for X-Men.

The third act is all about the X-Men vs the Goblin Queen, and the fun part of that battle is seeing her telekinetic powers fully unleashed in a showdown with Magneto. I had concerns that adding Magneto to the regular roster might throw things off. He is, after all, an extremely powerful mutant and there aren’t a lot of foes who pose a true threat to him. Goblin Queen is one such foe though and the battle is brief, but pretty damn cool. The fourth act is the resolution and we do get some setup for the episode to come. It’s not the cliffhanger either of the first two episodes were, but for comic readers it’s definitely enough.

Poor Morph just can’t escape this guy.

X-Men ’97 is credited to Beau DeMayo as the writer, but it’s pretty clear that this show is going to owe a whole lot to the writers who came before him. In particular, this is Chris Claremont’s story on the screen and he, along with many other writers, gets an acknowledgement in the credits. Does that mean he actually gets paid for the series? I don’t know. All of those guys were under work-for-hire agreements and it’s been a longstanding issue in the comics industry. I know Disney has made it a point to pay these guys something for their stories and characters when it comes to the MCU, but it’s probably not as much as they deserve considering how big some of those movies are. Also of note to me through these first three episodes is how the opening theme is credited to Haim Saban and Shuki Levy. I’m guessing that’s another mostly work-for-hire issue as it’s pretty well known that composer Ron Wasserman (working off a baseline provided by Ron Cannon) came up with the intro theme. It’s chronicled really well in the book “Previously…on X-Men: The Making of an Animated Series” by Eric Lewald which I strongly recommend to all fans of the shows, both old and new. I don’t point the writer thing out as a way to diminish DeMayo’s contribution to the show, but merely as an acknowledgement that a lot of great writers have contributed to this show so far.

“Fire Made Flesh” is another good episode of television. I think episode two is still the champion, but that’s no slight on this third episode. I think my only criticisms up to this point concerned some of Rogue’s dialogue, but a new criticism is forming in that the show is moving at a very brisk pace. The plot of this episode could have been stretched across multiple ones. I don’t know if we had enough time with the current status quo of the series before getting to this one. The resolution would have been able to land with more impact if we did. One of the last scenes occurring outside the mansion between Jean and her newborn son should have hit harder, but we’ve been with these characters for too short of a time. We’ll see how the fallout is addressed as there is a lot of emotions to sort out and the lasting image we have of Scott and Jean does at least acknowledge that. I just worry that in adapting something that has so rich a history, DeMayo is trying to hit on too much too fast. Perhaps the next episode will calm my fears somewhat. I do think it’s something we won’t truly have a grasp of until the first season is in the books, but so far, the ride is fun and exhilarating and after the wait for this one I’m kind of glad we get a less suspenseful ending this week to hang onto.

For more reviews of X-Men ’97, or my write-up on the book I recommended, check out the below:

Previously on X-Men: The Making of an Animated Series

A lot of cartoons made an impact on me as a child. My first love was The Real Ghostbusters. Its goofy cast of characters and excitement were plenty of fun and there were interesting toys to supplement the series with, which was pretty much the goal of all cartoons in the 80s. The Teenage Mutant…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “To Me, My X-Men”

It used to be that when a show got cancelled that was it. It simply ceased to exist as a new product. If there were enough episodes it could last in syndication on both broadcast and cable for a good while, but rarely was it accessible to the point where a fan could have the…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Mutant Liberation Begins”

The first episode of X-Men ’97 left me grinning from ear to ear and eager to see what would happen next. I’m happy to say, the show’s second episode left me feeling very much the same. “Mutant Liberation Begins” starts off right where the previous episode ended. Magneto, has revealed that it was the wishes…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Comics, Television

March 22, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Mutant Liberation Begins”

By Joe

The first episode of X-Men ’97 left me grinning from ear to ear and eager to see what would happen next. I’m happy to say, the show’s second episode left me feeling very much the same. “Mutant Liberation Begins” starts off right where the previous episode ended. Magneto, has revealed that it was the wishes of Charles Xavier that all of his assets be turned over to his longtime friend and often adversary. Magneto now leads the X-Men, and everyone is worried about where his loyalties truly lay.

The episode begins with a familiar refrain: Previously, on X-Men. Before, it was usually delivered by Norm Spencer, the voice of Cyclops. For the second episode it’s delivered by Matthew Waterson, the voice of Magneto. The opening credits are also updated to feature Magneto first reflecting his new status (and new, big M costume) as headmaster of the institute. This was a plot foretold by the official trailer for the show so it comes as no surprise. It’s also a plot from the comics as is another plot from this episode: the trial of Magneto. In addition to his new presence, there are also new shots included in the intro that mostly replace the classic shots we’re used to seeing. These new ones are recreations of scenes from the original series so it would appear that the opening title will be a little different for every episode which is kind of fun.

Magneto has been welcomed to the opening title.

This episode has to confront the issue of how the X-Men will exist with Magneto in charge and how humanity will respond. Magneto is essentially branded a terrorist by most of the world governments, which is why his reveal as being affiliated with the X-Men leads to a confrontation with Valerie Cooper and the federal government. Perhaps to the surprise of everyone present, Magneto surrenders as he views this as the clearest path to gaining the trust of the team. He does make it clear that he does not share Xavier’s world view that peace between mutants and humans can be achieved, but for the sake of his departed friend, it would appear that he’s at least going to try while also doing things his way.

Magneto will be forced to answer for his crimes before the United Nations.

Much of the episode takes place before a United Nations council set to judge Magneto. It also introduces a new villain: X-Cutioner. Pronounced by the character as “Executioner,” the character is voiced by Lawrence Bayne who is known to fans of the original X-Men cartoon as the voice of Cable. Cable will appear at some point in this show, but with a different voice actor. That choice was justified by series creator Beau DeMayo as being a necessity so that they could cast Cable as someone who sounds closer to Cyclops, something the original series likely didn’t take into consideration. Even with that, I was disappointed at the news as Bayne’s Cable was one of my favorite performances in the old show. He’s fine as X-Cutioner who is an enemy allied with the Friends of Humanity packing some serious fire power, but I’m sure I’ll miss him as Cable whenever that character debuts.

X-Cutioner may be just some guy, but he packs a lot of firepower.

The episode does include a B plot which would be unusual for the original show, but may be a sign of things to come. It’s also a humor-based B plot which would also be unusual and concerns Wolverine and Jean. Everyone except them has gone to the UN to watch Magneto’s trial unfold, so naturally this is the time when Jean goes into labor. It’s up to Wolverine to get her to a hospital and he seems far more unnerved doing that than facing down Apocalypse. It’s not something that chews up a ton of screen time and it was kind of nice to see the show willing to embrace a bit more humor. It also leads to some important character moments like what happens when an extremely powerful mutant shows up in labor at a hospital? And how does Wolverine feel about the woman he loves having a baby with another man? It gives us a great moment between Wolverine and Morph too that elaborates on their friendship, something we were told was a thing in the original series, but really didn’t get to see much of.

There is a history between these two and Magneto seems especially interested in rekindling that.

And speaking of everyone’s favorite love triangle from the original show, we’re apparently about to be served up another. When the writers were handed the keys to the mutant kingdom with that first show, it was a group unfamiliar with the X-Men that had existed in print for decades prior. As a result, they seemed to view the show as a new beginning. Some of that would be retconned in later series when it was acknowledged that the team had existed for awhile prior to the events of the show and more of that is being addressed here with Rogue and Magneto. It would appear their prior relationship before Rogue joined the team is now canon and it’s likely going to lead to some uncomfortable moments between they and Gambit. It just wouldn’t be X-Men without a little soap opera drama. I will say, one of my few criticisms of this episode takes place during these Rogue and Magneto scenes, but not because of the character development, but because of Rogue’s forced dialogue. It would seem writer Beau DeMayo could not get her line about looking as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs out his head because Rogue has a lot of cat puns in this one scene. And they’re not very good. Perhaps the show can add an actual southern, female, writer to the staff just for Rogue lines going forward.

I love the little character moments like this one between Morph and Wolverine. I hope for many more.

For a show that stylizes itself as a superhero action drama, an episode about dry court proceedings would have been dreadfully boring. That’s why “Mutant Liberation Begins” includes more wonderful action set pieces and also contains some pretty earth-shattering shakeups to the team. Like the first episode, this is still a show building towards bigger plots and laying the groundwork for how the series will go. It’s at times uncomfortable, but also exciting and I definitely want to see more. The episode also ends on another shocking reveal. Fans of the comics likely have ideas on where this development will lead, but I also wouldn’t expect a 1:1 recreation of any comic book plots. There will likely be some wrinkles thrown in and a change or two or three. As far as plots that could have been sourced from the books, I think it’s one of the top ones and it’s a plot that I’m glad the original series saved for this show because the more lax standards and practices should allow X-Men ’97 to do it justice.

One thing that’s definitely different from the previous show, X-Men ’97 is not afraid to shake-up the active roster.

Episode two of X-Men ’97 is more of the same, which is great. It’s going to be a long wait each week if all of the episodes are structured like the first two. Never mind the wait we’ll be in for when the season ends. I plan to review every episode of this inaugural season, though I don’t know how quickly I’ll be able to post reviews. It could be a Friday thing each week if I can find the time, or maybe it makes more sense to have a Mutant Monday on this blog? I guess we’ll see, but I’m definitely looking forward to taking this journey with all of my fellow X-Men fans around the globe.

Check out the other X-Men coverage we have here:

X-Men ’97 – “To Me, My X-Men”

It used to be that when a show got cancelled that was it. It simply ceased to exist as a new product. If there were enough episodes it could last in syndication on both broadcast and cable for a good while, but rarely was it accessible to the point where a fan could have the…

Keep reading
by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jean Grey

If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure!…

Keep reading
by Joe

Wolverine and the X-Men

It might seem amusing to folks younger than me who grew up on Marvel’s Avengers, but back in the first decade of the new millennium there wasn’t a hotter team of superheroes than the X-Men. The X-Men had been around since the 60s, but really took off as a comic book property in the 80s.…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Comics, Television

March 21, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “To Me, My X-Men”

By Joe

It used to be that when a show got cancelled that was it. It simply ceased to exist as a new product. If there were enough episodes it could last in syndication on both broadcast and cable for a good while, but rarely was it accessible to the point where a fan could have the entire series at their disposal. Some shows received VHS releases, but often they were sparse. Then home media became more affordable. DVDs were both cheaper to manufacture than VHS and could store more information. We started to see full season releases for shows, both active and cancelled. In some cases, the home media market was so great that previously dead programs were able to come back. Now we’ve entered the streaming age where massive entertainment companies are seeking to profit off of their libraries. Those profits have been a bit hard to come by though so these archives need to be supplemented with original programming. Some of that original programming is entirely original or at least only touched by an existing intellectual property (think The Mandalorian) and then some is either a reboot or continuation of an older show.

X-Men ’97 is a continuation of the now classic X-Men animated series that aired as part of the Fox Kids Network from 1992-1997. The original X-Men cartoon was a massive success and turned Wolverine and Gambit into household names. It attracted eyeballs in the millions, sold a bunch of toys, and made lifelong comic book fans out of a generation. For me personally it quickly became my favorite show on television and I was hooked for the show’s entire run. It put Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the rearview mirror as this was something mature, something that more respected my intelligence, and gave me more to chew on. I still adored playing with my X-Men toys and sporting X-Men t-shirts so it’s not like it turned me into an adult overnight or anything, but it was something I genuinely loved in the moment and I still have a ton of admiration for. Having that show continue from where it left off in 1997 was something that didn’t even seem worth dreaming about as that’s how unlikely I felt it would be. Perhaps Disney, who has yet to fully introduce Marvel’s mutants into its vast Marvel Cinematic Universe, wanted to give folks a little primer on what the X-Men were all about? Whatever the reasoning, I am positively giddy like a kid once again that my favorite superheroes are back in an all new television series.

The intro is basically a shot-for-shot remake of the original.

X-Men ’97 was announced in November of 2021. At the time, my assumption was the series was being ticketed to launch in the fall of 2022 to mark the original show’s 30th anniversary. That obviously didn’t happen and the show was slated for 2023, but then slipped to March 2024. For the revival, Marvel selected Beau DeMayo (Moon Knight, The Witcher) to be the head writer with Jake Castorena as the supervising director. From the old show, Eric and Julia Lewald were brought in as consultants along with Larry Houston. Much of the original cast was returned including Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Alison-Sealy Smith as Storm, George Buza as Beast, and Lenore Zann as Rogue. Father Time unfortunately necessitated recasts for both Cyclops (now Ray Chase) and Magneto (now Matthew Waterson). Other voice actors, like Chris Potter (original voice of Gambit) and Catherine Disher (original voice of Jean Grey) were brought back for other roles rather than their existing ones. Such a choice is puzzling, unless we’re talking about a unique case such as Alyson Court who no longer wished to voice Jubilee since she felt the role should go to an actual Asian-American.

The action sequences are where this show will really be able to separate itself from its predecessor.

The show did premiere under a bit of a dark cloud. It was announced that credited series creator Beau DeMayo was fired the week of the show’s sneak preview and a little more than a week out from the Disney+ premiere. As the days went by, the head of animation at Marvel Studios, Brad Winderbaum, revealed some snippets of what was going on. It doesn’t sound like anyone was upset with the quality of the work DeMayo was turning in, and we’ve only heard rumors that he was “difficult” to work with. The term difficult in such a situation can be a loaded one. How many women and people of color have heard that excuse because certain individuals don’t respond well to confrontation from minorities? DeMayo, a gay, black, adopted man was someone who really identified with what the X-Men stood for and removing that voice from the show is certainly a risky move if the show is deemed a success. Winderbaum doesn’t get into specifics on the situation, but does try to frame it as a parting of ways between the showrunner and Marvel.

The group is probably more reflective of the foes to come than the group from the original.

Based on my viewing of the show’s first episode, “To Me, My X-Men,” it would appear that DeMayo’s exit indeed has little to do with the quality of the show. This first episode is the show getting its feet wet. It’s a way to reintroduce these familiar faces in a fun way that does harken back to the original series. It opens with a new version of the classic intro. The song is remixed slightly and all of the character introductions have been recreated and new characters have been added. It still ends with Professor Xavier and Magneto clashing together, though the villains side has been updated with what are probably better, more reflective choices (so long, Gremlin) given who the X-Men typically clash with.

The mutant who will come to be known as Sunspot is basically the Jubilee of this series, only his official joining of the X-Men will have to wait for a later day.

Similar to the premiere episode of the original series, X-Men ’97 includes a plot in its episode about bringing a new mutant into the fold and makes the Sentinels the big threat. Even though the show is longer now (it’s listed at 34 minutes, the actual episode is closer to 28), the episode still moves at a snappy pace. We find the team dealing with the aftermath of the professor’s passing. Cyclops is now the leader and is perhaps a little too forceful with his approach which rubs some members of the team the wrong way (namely, Wolverine). The Friends of Humanity are up to no good and have even repurposed some Sentinel tech into weapons of their own that basically resemble Mega Man’s Mega Buster. Roberto Da Costa (Gui Augustini), a wealthy teen who has been abducted by the FOH, is the one in the Jubilee role this time around, though his trek through the mansion is quite brief. The show appears confident that its audience is going to be pretty familiar with these characters and a more robust introduction was not needed.

The Friends of Humanity are back and they’re packing heat.

Other elements of the premiere include the addition of Valerie Cooper (Catherine Disher, the original voice of Jean Grey) as a government liaison for Cyclops and his team. DeMayo, when he was doing press for the show, described Cooper as the thesis for the show so it will be interesting to see how she’s utilized going forward. There’s also the plotline of Jean being pregnant and what that means for her and Cyclops’ future. The first episode ends with a pretty seismic change to the status quo, though if you saw the trailer it won’t come as a surprise and it’s likely the end you expected. Even so, I’ll save talk of that for episode two.

Wolverine still isn’t allowed to smoke, but looks like he’s now allowed to drink.

The first episode is a great reintroduction for the X-Men and really seems to setup what we’re looking at. It also establishes the look of the series. I’ve been a little wary about that going in, but after one episode I will say my fears were unfounded. This show looks as good as it can in 2024. It’s digitally hand-drawn by Studio MIR which is the right approach given that celluloid animation just isn’t done anymore. Stylistically, there will be folks who prefer the look of the old show, but objectively speaking this one animates much better. That is on full display during the action sequences which are far more fun and inventive. This feels like a show directed by people who as kids wondered just how far the super powers on display here could be pushed. Storm, considered an Omega level mutant in the comics and now show, really gets to show off what she can do to such a scale that I worry if the writers can keep her consistent.

I should have expected this, but I didn’t.

The episode includes closing credits done in the same style as the original show’s first season with a character model spinning in place and a brief descriptor of their powers below. Before it can cycle through all of the characters though, it cuts to a static image of the mansion for the rest of the credits. Was this a nod to how the first season’s ending credits would never get to Jubilee? That always drove me nuts as a kid. If it is in reference to that it’s a bit of clever humor, though I’d rather just see all of the characters get spotlighted. And that’s the one failing, if you will, of this episode is that most of the characters don’t get to do a whole lot. That’s going to happen with such a large cast, one that has even been increased since we last saw this group in action. I would imagine we’ll get spotlight episodes to come while also maintaining a serialized approach. Yes, what network executives hated for their broadcast channels in 1992 is the preferred method of story-telling in 2024. The only other disappointment for me was no in memoriam for the people we’ve lost since the original show went dark. It would have been nice to at least see a tribute to original Cyclops voice actor Norm Spencer and the original voice of Magneto, David Hemblen.

Storm is allowed to cut loose in this one, but will she be allowed to do so in every episode?

X-Men ’97 in its debut episode manages to strike the right balance between new and nostalgic. The fan service hits right and its reserved for parts of the show where fan service is appropriate. It also establishes a tone for the show which is in-line with the serious, dramatic, original series though it’s also apparent that this one will be allowed to be a little more grown-up (Wolverine and Morph are shown enjoying a couple of cold ones). That makes sense since the target audience is the kids of 1992, but it also likely won’t want to alienate the kids of the kids of ’92. It also left me wanting more which was good since this was a two episode premiere. I’ll get to that episode in another post, but the main takeaway for me is our beloved X-Men have been placed in good hands and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Get on the X-Men ’97 hype train with these posts:

X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series

A few years ago, I talked about my love of X-Men, the animated series, via a book review of Previously…on X-Men by Eric Lewald. That book chronicled the development of the 92 animated series that helped propel the Fox Kids Network to the top of the Saturday morning leaderboards through notes from the author and…

Keep reading
by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Logan

Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the…

Keep reading
by Joe

Previously on X-Men: The Making of an Animated Series

A lot of cartoons made an impact on me as a child. My first love was The Real Ghostbusters. Its goofy cast of characters and excitement were plenty of fun and there were interesting toys to supplement the series with, which was pretty much the goal of all cartoons in the 80s. The Teenage Mutant…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Comics, Television